A Day of Reckoning: Reaction to Attack on Ottawa

Almost as immediately as the news broke and details began to flood in over social media, our collective shock overtook us, and then it began; this will be the day Canada will be changed, locked down, hostile, mistrusting.

Yes, before we even understand what happened, we heard calls for a dismantling of our open spaces, our democratic spaces, the spaces that define us. Lock down, be suspicious, report and avoid public spaces.

I say no.

We should collectively defy the fear-based response that could forever change us as a nation. As we seek answers and as they unfold over the coming days and weeks, our call should be for increased vigilance but not for a stripping of our collective civil liberties, the dismantling of our trust in one another, or a closing down of the spaces we share as citizens. We are better than that.

The world has changed, but our values as Canadians do not need to.

Canada is widely regarded as a moral compass, a unifying force in the global village. A truly Canadian response to this tragedy should reflect our shared values demonstrating our collective strength, trust and belief in the goodness of one another and that together we are stronger than anyone who would seek to tear us down.

Peggy Taillon, President and CEO, Canadian Council on Social Development